Artist Biography

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Equally at home on the concert platform or in the orchestra pit, Matthew Wood is a conductor of great versatility, regularly conducting symphonic, opera, ballet and new music repertoire throughout Australia, Europe and the United Kingdom.

In the UK Matthew has worked with many leading orchestras including the Philharmonia, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic and at the Royal Ballet Covent Garden. Matthew held the position of Associate Conductor with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra for three years and in 2016 Matthew made his debut with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, to which he will return in their 19/20 season.

Matthew has also made numerous appearances outside the UK, being a regular guest conductor with the RTE National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, the Orquesta Sinfonica Nacional de Chile, Orquesta Clasica Santa Cecilia Madrid and the Brasov Philharmonic Romania. In 2016 Matthew made his Swedish debut, conducting performances of Philip Glass’ Satyagraha with Folkoperan Stockholm and will return in 2018 with further performances in Stockholm, Copenhagen and BAM New York.

In Australia Matthew held the post of Artistic Director and Chief Conductor of the Darwin Symphony Orchestra (2012-2017). He has also conducted many of Australia’s other leading ensembles including the Melbourne, Tasmanian and Queensland Symphony Orchestras.

Matthew is a keen advocate of new music, regularly commissioning new works, including recent Australian commissions/performances of Ross Edwards, Iain Grandage, Lachlan Skipworth, Matthew Hindson and Elena Kats-Chernin. He is regularly engaged by new music ensembles such as the Halcyon ensemble in both performances and in recordings.

He is also in demand as a conducting teacher and is a regular guest lecturer and conductor at the Royal Northern College of Music where Matthew held the coveted position of Conducting Fellow. During this time he was selected to conduct the London Symphony Orchestra, as part of their conductor discovery series, and received tuition from conductors Sir Mark Elder and Sir Colin Davis.

Matthew completed his undergraduate music studies, graduating with first class honours at the University of New South Wales, majoring in composition. He then undertook postgraduate conducting studies at the Sydney Conservatorium before concentrating his studies under renowned conductor pedagogue Jorma Panula.

 


Click here to visit Matthew's official website.